According to a new OECD report, Switzerland needs to do more to help people with mental illnesses find a job or stay employed.
In Switzerland, about one in three people on unemployment, disability or social assistance benefit has a mental illness. The unemployment rate of people with mental illnesses is more than double the overall rate.
A more effective approach would help workers and firms alike: mental health issues are estimated to cost the Swiss economy billions, equivalent to 3.2% of gross domestic product per year, in lost productivity, healthcare and social spending.
OECD says employers should be given more responsibility to address mental health issues in the workplace and should work together with insurers: comprehensive employee follow-up and return-to-work planning can reduce absence days. Employers should also be required to contact the disability insurer quickly when health issues arise for one of their employees.
Employment services also need to play an active role, says the report. They need to identify and address jobseekers' mental health issues early on in close cooperation with the health sector.
Disability benefit reforms in the past decade successfully reduced the number of new benefit claims. However, the disability benefit caseload remains high, and reforms aimed at bringing current claimants back into the labor market, especially those with a mental illness, have yet to deliver better outcomes.
According to the OECD report, health services are accessible in Switzerland, and the number of treating psychiatrists is much higher than in any other OECD country. However, treating people with the aim of helping them get back to work is not widespread, and no link exists between health and employment services or between workplaces and doctors. Other countries are experimenting successfully in this field.
Change is also needed in other areas, says the report, notably the education system. Youth with mental illnesses who drop out from upper-secondary education or vocational school do not receive any support. Job prospects for the low-skilled have fallen in the past decade, and disability benefit claims of youth with a mental illness keep rising despite successful disability reforms.
OECD recommends that Swiss authorities:
--strengthen the prevention of sickness absences in the workplace and reduce the impact of absences through intensified return-to-work efforts;
--enhance the capacity of employment services and social welfare offices to address their clients' mental illnesses;
--move the disability benefit system closer to the work sphere with a focus on the role of employers and workplace-oriented early interventions;
--ensure that the mental health system is better placed to deliver good employment outcomes also by promoting a better allocation of resources toward adequate doctor training.
--place greater emphasis on ensuring that students with mental illnesses do not leave the education system early.
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